Research to lay a foundation for strong community relations
Social Engine worked with community consultation specialists Kaizen to create a data-driven portrait of the local community that captured people’s voices and concerns to support positive ongoing community relations with AWE.
Client
AWE, Aldermaston
The brief
To build a consult the community about AWE’s nuclear security sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield and lay a foundation for positive community relations.
AWE is the public body that designs, builds and maintains the UK’s nuclear defence deterrent, based at Aldermaston. They commissioned Social Engine to create a portrait of the local community, so that they could understand their thoughts and needs and build positive relationships with local people.
AWE has future site development plans, so effective community engagement is essential for maintaining positive relationships.
What we did
Working alongside our community consultation partners Kaizen, Social Engine developed a detailed survey, which was shared online and also conducted in person by the Kaizen team. We held individual interviews and street focus groups in various community spaces in seven local villages and towns.
The consultation ran for 6 weeks in early Summer 2025 with more than 500 people taking part. Methods included interviews, focus groups with teenagers and local business to allow in depth understanding of community perceptions
A data based portrait
Analysis of the results enabled us to build a clear data based portrait of local demographics, as well as understanding people’s perceptions of the area, as well as AWE and its work.
We successfully helped build a bridge AWE and the local community, ensuring that voices were included that hadn’t previously been heard and helped establish future routes of communication as the start of an ongoing dialogue.
Most residents won’t have an understanding of, or relationship with, AWE unless they’re directly concerned with the planning process or are employed there.’
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Kaizen are community engagement specialists who play a key role in conducting Social Engine’s on-the-ground outreach. The Kaizen team specialises in engaging marginalised groups, using techniques such as ‘pop up’ focus groups and direct street research. We regularly partner with Kaizen when we want to make sure that we’re engaging with all parts of the community.